The brain
triples in weight. Neurons branch and grow into increasingly dense connective networks
between the brain and the rest of the body. As neurons become coated with an insulating
layer of myelin, they send messages faster and more efficiently. The infant's experiences
help to "fine-tune" the brain's responses to stimulation.

Motor Abilities

Brain maturation allows the development of motor skills from reflexes
to coordinated motor abilities, including grasping and walking. At birth, the infant's
senses of smell and hearing are quite acute, and although vision at first is sharp only
for objects that are about 10 inches away, by 6 months, acuity approaches 20/20.

Cognitive
Development

Cognitive
Skills

The infant progresses from knowing his or her world only through
immediate sensorimotor experiences to being able to "experiment" on that worldmentally, through the use of mental combinations and an understanding of object
permanence.

Language

Babies' cries are their first communication; they then progress through
cooing and babbling. Interaction with adults through "baby talk" teaches them
the surface structure of language. By age 1. an infant can usually speak a word or two,
and by age 2 is talking in short sentences.

Psychosocial
Development

Personality
Development

The major psychosocial development during the first two years is the
infant's transition from total dependence to increasing independence. This transition is
explained by Freud in terms of the oral and anal stages, by Erikson in terms of the crises
of trust versus mistrust and autonomy versus shame and doubt, and by Mahler in terms of
separation-individuation.

Understanding Self and Others

In the first month, infants have very little understanding of
themselves and others as separate persons. Between the ages of I and 2, they begin to
develop self-awareness and, consequently, become much more attentive to the reactions of
others.

Parent-Infant Interaction

Parents and infants respond to each other first by synchronizing their
behavior. Toward the end of the first year, secure attachment between child and parent
sets the stage for the child's increasingly independent exploration of the world.

The Developing Person So Far: The Play Years, Ages 2
through 6

Physical Development

Brain and Nervous System

The brain continues to develop faster than any other part of the body,
attaining 90 percent of its adult weight by the time the child is 5 years old. Myelination
proceeds at different rates in various areas of the brain. This differential neurological
development has some bearing on the child's readiness for certain types of activity.

Motor Abilities and Perception

The child becomes stronger, and body proportions become more adultlike.
Large body movements, such as running and jumping, improve dramatically. Fine motor
skills, such as writing and drawing, develop more slowly. Between the ages of 2 and 3, the
activity level is higher than at any point in the life span.

Cognitive
Development

Cognitive Skills

The child becomes increasingly able to use mental representation and
symbols, such as words, to "figure things out." However, the child's ideas about
the world are often illogical and much limited by the inability to understand other points
of view.

Language

Language abilities develop rapidly; by the age of 6, the average child
knows 14,000 words and demonstrates extensive grammatical knowledge. Children also learn
to adjust their communication to their audience.

Psychosocial
Development

Personality Development

According to Erikson, increased levels of energy at this stage enable
the child to boldly and exuberantly initiate new activities. The outcome of the crisis of
this stage of life-initiative versus guilt-will depend on whether the child often succeeds
and is praised for his or her endeavors or whether efforts fail and the child is
unrewarded, or worse, blamed.

Understanding
Self and Others Parent

The child's ability to interact with others depends on a well-developed
sense of self. As children's social and cognitive skills develop, they engage in
increasingly complex and imaginative types of play, sometimes by themselves and,
increasingly, with others.

Child Interaction

As children become more independent and try to exercise more control over their
environment, the parents' role in supervising the child's activities becomes more
difficult. Some parenting styles and some forms of discipline are more effective than
others in encouraging the child to develop both autonomy and self-control.

The Developing Person So Far: The School Years, Ages 7 through
11

Physical Development

Growth

During middlechildhood, children grow more slowly than they did
during infancy and toddlerhood or than they will during adolescence. Increased strength
and heart and lung capacity give children the endurance to improve their performance in
skills such as swimming and running.

Motor Skills

Slower growth contributes to children's increasing control over their
bodies. However, since brain maturation is not yet completed, the average 7-year-old may
take twice as long as an adult to respond to a stimulus.

Cognitive Development

Concrete Operational Thought

Beginning at about age 7 or 8, children develop the ability to
understand logical principles. Once acquired, the concepts of reciprocity, classification,
class inclusion, seriation, and number help children to develop a more complete
understanding of mathematics and of measurement.

An Information-Processing View

Children's expanded ability to understand and learn can be attributed,
in part, to enlarging memory capacity and an increasing ability to use metamemory
techniques. At the same time, metacognition techniques enable children to organize their
knowledge.

Language

Children's increasing ability to understand the structures and
possibilities of language enables them to extend the range of their cognitive powers, to
become more analytical in their use of vocabulary, and to enjoy the word-play involved in
puns, jokes, and riddles.

Psychosocial
Development

Personality Development

According to Freud, middle childhood is the period of latency, during
which the intense drives of the phallic stage are submerged, freeing children to learn and
be productive. Erikson describes the conflict of this stage as the crisis of industry
versus inferiority, Learning theorists suggest that children's greater understanding of
cause and effect and their awareness of the actions and attitudes of others make them more
susceptible to reinforcement and modeling techniques.

The Peer Group

The peer group becomes increasingly important to children as they
become less dependent on their parents and more dependent on friends for help, loyalty,
and sharing of mutual interests.

Social Systems and the Child

Children are increasingly aware of, and involved in family life, as
well as in the world outside the home, and therefore are more likely to feel the effects
of family, economic, and political conditions. Whether or not particular situations will
be stressful for a child will depend, at least in part, on the child's temperament,
competence, and the social support provided by home and school.

The Developing Person So Far; Adolescence, Ages 10 through 20

Physical Development

Physical Growth

At some time between the ages of 9 and 14,
puberty begins with increases in male and female hormone levels. Within a year, the first
perceptible physical changes appear-enlargement of the girl's breasts and the boy's
testes. About a year later, the growth spurt begins. During adolescence, boys and girls
gain in height, weight, and musculature. The growth that occurs during these years usually
proceeds from the extremities to the torso and may be uneven.

Changes in Sex Organs and Secondary Sex
Characteristics

Toward the end of puberty, the young
person's potential reproductive capacity is signaled by menarche in girls and ejaculation
in boys. It will take several years before full fertility is achieved.

On the whole, males become
taller than females and develop deeper voices and characteristic patterns of facial and
body hair. Females become wider at the hips; breast development continues for several
years.

Cognitive Development

Formal Operational Thought

By the end of adolescence, many young people can
understand and create general principles and use scientific reasoning. For many
adolescents, cognitive advancement is also reflected in their ability to reason morally.

Adolescent Egocentrism

Adolescent egocentrism tends to prevent
teenagers from thinking rationally about their own experiences. Their feelings of
invincibility and uniqueness may prompt them to underestimate risks, for example, with
regard to sexual relationships and drug use.

Psychosocial Development

Identity

One of the major goals of adolescence is
identity achievement-the development of f he young person's own sense of self. Identity
formation can be affected by personal factors-including relationships with family and
peers-the nature of the society, and the economic and political circumstances of the
times.

Peers

During adolescence, the peer group becomes
increasingly important in helping adolescents to become more independent, to "try
out" new behaviors and explore different facets of their personality, and to interact
with members of the opposite sex.

Parent-Child Relationships

Although in early adolescence parents and
children may find themselves at odds over issues centering on the child's increased
assertiveness or lack of self-discipline and self-control, these difficulties usually
diminish as the parents recognize the teenager's increasing maturity and allow him or her
more autonomy.

THE MIDDLE SCHOOLER

Adapted from:Five Forks Middle School

THE MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT:

1. Possesses
a new found intellectual prowess, an ability to deal with symbolic
ideasand abstract concepts.

2. Is living
under the impact of the onset of puberty and the appearance of sexual feelings.

3. Is bound
by an overwhelming need, a craving for peer acceptance and approval.

4. Is faced
with a new body, in muscular and skeletal terms, which must be mastered all over again.

5. Needing to
assert his autonomy and independence, often exhibits a resentment of and resistance to
adult authority.

6. Possesses
extreme idealism.

7. Struggles
with turbulent emotions.

8. * Needs to
face thetask of developing a new value system to fit his life and society.

9. Is
constantly developing, testing, and changing his perceptions of self, his self concept.

10. Is living
through a major transformation in interpersonal relationships with the opposite sex.

11. Faces the
task of sex-role identification.

12. Has
rapidly multiplying, but superficial interests.

13. Has a
need for frequent periods of physical activity and movement altered with periods of rest.

PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS

I. There is a rapid
acceleration in growth patterns.

A. The bones
lengthen.

B. The muscles
increase in strength and coordination.

C. The glands begin
to produce hormones causing sexual changes known as puberty.

D. These changes
create the puberty "growth spurt".

1.
The height increases.

2.
The body breadth and depth increases.

3.
The heart and lungs grow to adult sizes.

E. The bones grow
faster than the muscles so the adolescent appears to be the size of an adult but doesn't
have the strength of one.

F. The legs are out
of proportion with the rest of the body because they grow the fastest. This creates
an awkward and graceless period.

II. Genetics as well as environment can
affect the rate of development.

A. There is a
tremendous diversity between the growth development of boys and boys, girls and girls, and
boys and girls.

B. The girls' growth
spurt occurs about two years earlier than boys.

INTELLECTUAL
CHARACTERISTICS

I. Emerging adolescents
display a variety of skills and abilities.

A. Students will range in
development from the concrete-manipulatory stage of development to the ability to deal
with abstract concepts. They are intensely curious and growing in mental ability.

B. Middle Schoolers prefer
active over passive learning activities. They enjoy working with their peers during
learning activities.

C. They have a strong
willingness to learn things they consider useful. Students enjoy using skills to
solve "real-life" problems.

D. Often they are egocentric
and will argue to convince others or to clarify their own thinking. Independent,
critical thinking emerges.

II. Studies show
brain growth slows between the ages of twelve and fourteen.

A. Existing cognitive skills
of learners should be refined.

B. Opportunities should be
provided for enjoyable studies in the arts.

C. Self-expression should be
encouraged on all subjects.

SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS

I. Middle School years are times when
students test values and question authority.

A. The child needs adult support,
understanding, guidance and calm direction even though he/she is more apt to question
authority.

B. Often, due to changing role models
and family structure, the Middle Schooler is "bombarded" with conflicting
values.

C. Students begin to weigh the values
of their parents/family. Often this is a time when prejudices emerge.

D. Students are becoming less dependent
and are facing greater expectations and responsibilities. In a sense they are forced
to adopt values at this time.

II. Middle School students tend to be
less family oriented and begin forming peer groups.

A. The Middle Schooler feels the needs
to be part of a group. Being in a particular peer group means acceptance.

B. The peer group friend relationships
are often superficial. Example-- Best friends at lunch are often enemies at the end
of the day and best friends again by morning.

C. The child is greatly influenced by
the pressure of their peers. Status within the group is maintained by conformity.

III. Middle School students are quite
conscious of status and symbols of status.

A. The peer group serves as a type of
status symbol to many middle Schoolers. Lacking in tangible status symbols (cars,
boats, etc.) The Middle Schooler may identify being in the the "In Group"
as a social status symbol within itself.

B. Great attention is given to personal
appearance in order to maintain status.

C. Students often determine status for
girls with:
1. Physical appearance
2. good social skills